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Stocks - U.S. Futures Turn Lower, Reversing Earlier Gains

Investing.com - U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open at the start of Monday's holiday-shortened session, reversing earlier gains as the market attempted to bounce back from its worst week of trading since the global financial crisis of 2008.

At 7:50AM ET (12:50 GMT), the blue-chip Dow futures were down 130 points, or around 0.55%, to 22,280, the S&P 500 futures shed 12 points, or about 0.5%, to 2,401.1 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a loss of 28 points, or roughly 0.5%, to 6,029.7.

The move in premarket comes after stocks plunged again on Friday, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its worst week in a decade, down nearly 7%.

The Nasdaq Composite Index closed in a bear market and the S&P 500 was on the brink of one itself, down nearly 18% from its record earlier this year.

U.S. stock and bond markets will see an abbreviated session on Monday, with equity markets ending at 1:00PM ET (18:00 GMT), while bond markets are set for a 2PM ET (19:00 GMT) close.

Both markets will be closed on Tuesday in observation of Christmas Day.

"The CEOs confirmed that they have ample liquidity available for lending," the Treasury said in a statement.

Mnuchin will also hold a call Monday with the President’s Working Group on financial markets, which is sometimes referred to as the "Plunge Protection Team", “to discuss coordination efforts to assure normal market operations.”

Elsewhere, reports over the weekend that President Donald Trump has privately discussed the possibility of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, whom he appointed, will also be in focus.

Mnuchin later attempted to defuse the situation, saying in a tweet that Trump told him he had "never suggested firing" the Fed chairman

The Fed lifted rates for the fourth time this year last week and kept most of its guidance for additional hikes over the next two years, drawing the ire of Trump, who has repeatedly attacked the Fed's tightening as damaging to the economy.

Meanwhile, market focus will stay attuned to developments out of Washington DC after the failure by the U.S. Congress and President Donald Trump to agree to a spending bill by midnight Saturday resulted in a partial U.S. government shutdown.

Mick Mulvaney, the president's budget director and chief of staff, said on Sunday the partial shutdown could continue to Jan. 3, when the new Congress convenes.

Elsewhere, European shares were lower, with thin volumes dampening trading activity across the region.

Earlier, Asian shares ended mixed. Moves were limited by a holiday in Japan, while many bourses closed early for Christmas.